Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"So, he doesn't allow people to relieve themselves here because he's afraid that people will find the ground uneven when they squat down?"

This rule has been in place for a long time. If that's the case, did Neishi Matsu anticipate that something like this would happen one day, so he laid the groundwork in advance?

Everyone thought of this and hoped the driver could explain.

Kenzo Masuyama then mentioned that he believed the rules about using the toilet might indeed be based on economic considerations, which is why Matsu Neishi stumbled upon this point by accident.

Unlike him, Yuuji thought of the shrine's special geographical location and guessed that perhaps this was not the first time Neishi Matsu had killed someone, but that he could just throw the person into the mountains and no one had ever discovered it.

"Anyway, I think Genshi is undoubtedly the murderer."

As Kuromaru and the others listened to Masuyama Kenzo's reasoning, they moved towards the small restroom, analyzing the rules that Jintaro had mentioned earlier when they observed the restroom, based on what Ishii Matsu had said. Yuuji, meanwhile, was wary of the shrine elder whose expression was gradually darkening, with the policeman following closely behind him, and he also dragged Marina behind him.

"Paying respects at the main hall first is easy to understand; it's simply a way to lull guests into a false sense of security."

Whether you believe in God or not, you can explain it by the rules of the shrine or the cost of the toilet.

"When the victim reaches the toilet, the person lying prone along the long wall can get up from the ground and attack him from behind. Besides sleeping, there are two other situations in which a normal person is extremely relaxed, one of which is excretion."

"One of them, what about the other one?" Marina asked curiously, nudging Yuuji, only to receive a curt reply from him: "Kid, don't talk too much."

“Those two wounds on the lower back are indeed a decoy. Because the murderer attacked from behind, he removed two pieces of flesh from the victim's lower back to hide the wounds.” Masuyama Kenzo looked at the man who had previously assessed the victim's condition: “According to your judgment, if it was a normal drug use, I think he would have had to smoke continuously for at least an hour before he would die suddenly.” “That’s right, so I think he must have been given an injection.”

In order to increase efficiency, Japan had long adopted extraction methods to distribute drugs in China. Back then, in various occupied cities, it's possible that some shops displaying Japanese flags used this method to sell drugs. However, many Chinese people disliked it because injections were too quick, unlike solid forms like ointments that could be taken home and used slowly.

"The wound I was referring to is this one. The murderer injected a large amount of extracted drugs into the victim's waist, or rather, both sides of the spine, from behind, causing the victim to die suddenly from acute poisoning. He hurriedly hid the injection equipment in the toilet and then dragged the body to the side of the main hall in the middle of the night."

Kenzo Masuyama pointed to the five of them: "Because he was afraid we would get up in the middle of the night again, he dragged the body behind the offering box in the main hall, cut off the side with the pinhole and the symmetrical side together, and then stuffed it with a towel."

"If the box is in the way, only Mr. Shiota would come this way at night to look for his companions. It's so dark, he wouldn't even notice it on his way back from the toilet."

Kenzo Masuyama stopped in front of the toilet: "After the murder last night, the murderer should have immediately returned to his sleeping place, afraid that others would come out and suspect him, so the syringe used for the injection must be near the toilet."

"Could it be somewhere else? If it's a root stone, it could be hidden somewhere else in the shrine that's hard to find, right?" the policeman suggested.

Kenzo Masuyama shook his head: "If it's really found out, wouldn't that confirm that he's the murderer?"

The tools used in the crime must not be discovered. If they are discovered, there are countless ways to find the real culprit, and in that situation, the culprit would be unable to think rationally.

"So, I think it's hidden inside that water pipe." (End of Chapter)